US President Donald Trump arrived in Da Nang on November 10 to attend activities within the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week and then pay a State visit in Hanoi at the invitation of State President Tran Dai Quang.

President Trump delivered an address to the APEC CEO Summit, attended by representatives from nearly 3,000 businesses in the Asia-Pacific region and many international organizations.

He highlighted Vietnam’s economic success as an outstanding story in the Asia-Pacific region, noting it is now one of the fastest-growing economies on the planet.

“It has already increased more than 30 times over, and Vietnamese students rank among the best students in the world. And that is very impressive,” he said.

He also praised the economic transformation of many Asian countries, including Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines, and highlighted his desire for a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

“The US has been an active partner in the Asia-Pacific since it first won independence,” he said. “We have been friends, partners, and allies in the Indo-Pacific for a long, long time and we will be friends, partners, and allies for a long time to come.”

President Trump also said that the world’s largest economy will also ink bilateral trade agreements with Indo-Pacific nations that abide by fair and reciprocal trade.

The APEC CEO Summit 2017 is taking place in Da Nang from November 8 to 10 as part of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week. This is the largest and most important annual event of the business community in the Asia-Pacific region.

The three-day summit provides a chance for leaders, businesses, policy makers, and researchers to exchange ideas on global and regional economic, trade, and investment viewpoints and orientations while sharing experience and designing measures to strengthen cooperation between businesses from APEC and the rest of the world.